Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Regressed by the Celestial Demon.
Geon Gon (3)
What on earth could it be?
Seol Ha brooded over nothing but that question all through the day until the fifteenth arrived.
The Young Master she served had changed.
Unmistakably.
His temperament, his speech—both carried a strange, oppressive air.
As if some ancient general had taken root in his body.
The anxiety gnawed at her, so each night she found herself pacing outside the Young Master’s Quarters whenever the chance arose.
Yet she could not enter—not without his command.
There was nothing for it but to throw herself into her training.
It was as she turned to leave that they appeared.
Several figures approached.
Familiar faces, smiles laced with mockery.
Geon A Sung, the Lady’s second son—the one who had knocked the Young Master senseless not long ago—and his shadows, the Ssang Ryong Geom Gwi brothers.
Colloquially known as the Twin Ghosts.
She lowered her head in greeting.
“Surely the agreement with that wretch’s mother has outlived its usefulness, hasn’t it?”
Geon A Sung smiled, his gaze raking across her body with naked hunger. The eyes of the Twin Ghosts burned with no less fervor.
“If you came into my arms, you’d live far more richly than you do now. Why choose a thorny path in the name of serving that fool?”
No one in the Golden Estate matched Geon A Sung’s appetite for the pleasures of the flesh. Seol Ha found it revolting, but showed nothing.
“I am a woman who has sworn to grip a blade all her days. I abandoned the life of a woman long ago.”
Geon A Sung chuckled.
“Forget such trifling oaths. No matter how much you train, that wretch’s limits are fixed, and in the end he’ll discard you whenever it suits him.”
“I’ll take my leave now.”
Continuing the conversation would only show her things better left unseen.
Leaving was the answer.
As Seol Ha moved to go, the Twin Ghosts positioned themselves before and behind, blocking her path.
It was different from their usual manner.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve watched you for quite a long time now. However gifted you may be, you’re only a bodyguard of this estate. Yet I, the second son of the Master himself, wish to claim you—and I cannot. Does that make sense?”
“The Lady would take offense. To speak plainly, I serve the Lady.”
“Would she kill me for claiming one servant? From what I hear, that Geon Gon wretch is so crippled from last time he can barely move—a complete disability. So you have no master left to serve. Why not serve me instead? Kuhkuh.”
She bit her lip.
The Young Master needed no defense against such slander, but the revulsion that seized her at seeing distorted lust bloom from inflated rumors of his ruin was overwhelming.
She drew her blade.
“You know these men cannot restrain me.”
In exchange for not serving the Young Master further, she had received not only protection of his safety but also a small portion of Spirit Medicine to aid his growth.
The Twin Ghosts were more than manageable.
“Right, right. The Twin Ghosts will just block your path. I know your skill well—I’d never think them capable of stopping you. Kuhkuh.”
Geon A Sung unsheathed his sword.
“I’ll do it myself. But could you even cut me? My blood flows from the noble Master of the Golden Estate.”
This was the trap he’d been waiting for.
“Will you believe me if I say I’ve been waiting for this day?”
……
“Put away the blade and follow me quietly. Then you won’t have to see anything unsightly in public. Actually, I prefer outdoors anyway.”
Snicker.
Kuhkuh.
She glared at the mocking twins, but they merely held her escape routes closed without pressing forward.
Trapped on all sides.
Geon A Sung crept closer.
“Come now—if you’re confident, kill me. If not, lower that blade first.”
An inescapable siege from all four directions.
Her grip on the sword tightened with all her strength—precisely then.
A sudden gust of wind swept through.
“I’ve always been, and still am,”
A familiar voice continued.
“Deeply averse to anyone touching what I hold in my hand.”
A shadow emerged from nowhere, seized Geon A Sung by the nape of his neck, and drove a Short Sword into the side of his throat.
Crack—
He hadn’t foreseen an ending like this.
Shock gave way to confusion in Geon A Sung’s expression.
“Who… what… bastard… you….”
Blood spurted from his throat, and his words came garbled.
“That bastard is me.”
As Geon A Sung crumpled, a youth who still bore the softness of boyhood drew his Short Sword.
“Seol Ha, kill them all.”
Geon Gon revealed a murderous intent I had never seen from him before.
“If you want to live.”
Seol Ha swung her blade at Ssang Ryong Geom Gwi without hesitation, as though the command had been burned into her long ago.
She had to do this.
If the Young Master willed it.
*
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*
“Huff… huff…”
Her first time taking a life.
Fear and exhilaration stirred in Seol Ha’s ashen face.
Of course, I remained composed.
Before the Regression, killing wretches like this had been nothing—mere routine. I wiped the blood from my Short Sword with my sleeve and tucked it back into my belt.
“Calm yourself. Take a deep breath. Compared to what lies ahead, this is nothing.”
“How can you… be so unmoved? We just….”
“Yes, I killed the Second. Just now. But is there anyone to see it?”
Whoosh—
Seol Ha glances about, but there is no one.
There wouldn’t be. Not naturally.
This lecherous dog had made his preparations well enough; had he conceived the thought of laying Seol Ha down, he would have ensured no soul entered this place.
Of course, the Madame would know.
She would simply deem it trivial and let it pass. Or perhaps she calculated that rendering Seol Ha powerless would serve her better.
From what I remember, she is a creature of twisted tastes.
In any case, reality remained unchanged.
I had killed Geon A Sung, and Seol Ha had consented.
“Flee, sir. This was done by me. You saw nothing. You knew nothing.”
Seol Ha spoke with sincerity.
My nose stung faintly.
Rather than condemn me, Seol Ha worried for me even now.
“Why would I abandon this household?”
Had that been my intention, I would never have endured such cruel suffering to achieve this Regression.
“Then what do you mean to do?”
Her earlobes flushed red, her voice rising.
A habit she showed when facing trials she could hardly bear, or when she was deeply anxious.
To witness it again after so long stirred something in me—
“I will burn my quarters.”
“And then?”
“Then I will burn this bastard in the flames and make him my own.”
“What do you….”
“The rumors already claim I’ve become disabled anyway.”
“…….”
“What could a disabled man like me accomplish, in their eyes? It’s obvious. You rebelled and slew Ssang Ryong Geom Gwi. The Second failed to have his way with you. And in his fury afterward, he burned me to death before your eyes—revenge for what happened to Ssang Ryong Geom Gwi.”
“When did you begin planning such a thing? Can it even work?”
Her eyes betrayed disbelief.
The moment I saw her gaze, it struck me that perhaps she could not accept what I had become.
“Just now. The instant I saw what was happening to you, my mind snapped. Thunder split the sky, and suddenly I could see.”
“…….”
“I will do whatever it takes now. That’s far better than losing what’s mine. And if it troubles you, I’ll accept it if you leave my side.”
The Seol Ha I knew was, by my measure, a good person.
A woman with no blood relation to me, who followed me blindly out of gratitude to my mother.
If I were to call such a person not good by my own standard, what could be said?
But I am no longer who I was before.
The man she knew and followed is gone.
A ruthless Demon Person who has endured ninety years of time.
Perhaps it would be difficult for anyone to simply understand me without reservation.
“What… should I do, then?”
At the unexpected answer, I regarded Seol Ha without a word.
I considered asking for reasons behind such unconditional loyalty, but I found I didn’t want to.
As long as she remained at my side, I would consider her my responsibility.
“Pour oil through the quarters and prepare it for burning. I’ll handle the rest.”
I rolled the Short Sword in my palm and lifted Geon A Sung’s face into view.
It had been quite some time since I’d crafted a Human Skin Face Creation.
I am, after all, a master of Human Skin Face Creation even the Celestial Demon praised.
*
*
*
Whoosh—
The fire caught.
The house where she had lived her entire life with her mother would likely become nothing but ash in an instant.
It wouldn’t be long before servants and handmaidens throughout the manor appeared.
The martial artists within the Golden Estate would soon come rushing to extinguish the flames with great commotion.
Seol Ha looked at me.
“Flawless.”
“How about the voice?”
Geon A Sung’s pitch was higher than most women’s, making his voice difficult to mimic, though not impossible.
“It’s a little off.”
“Now?”
I shook my vocal cords side to side, employing the Voice Alteration Technique.
“Identical.”
Seol Ha’s expression turned one of wonder.
And rightly so—achieving such perfect mimicry through Voice Alteration required tremendous skill in coordinating technique and True Qi.
Ninety years were not wasted.
“Young Master.”
“What is it?”
“May I ask how you managed it? I couldn’t sense a thing. Were you hiding your true strength?”
“No. I employed a great method necessary to me.”
The great method succeeded.
The first stage of the Heavenly Mortal Shed-Skin Technique opens part of the body’s latent potential.
Flesh and bone, muscle—all torn infinitely and reformed to fit my new reserves of power.
Furthermore, True Qi that had been inadequately absorbed and scattered due to insufficient aptitude was now reabsorbed into the framework of my expanded body.
Of course, since I had consumed no Spirit Medicine in childhood, this aspect offered little advantage.
Still, the result satisfied me.
Ninety years of living as the Second Under Heaven had honed my combat instincts and martial choices.
Enemies careless enough to be caught off guard.
And the advantage of the late hour.
With all these factors combined, failure would have been more surprising than success.
Of course, I gave Seol Ha a convenient excuse.
“During all those years of cultivation, I recovered residual True Qi that had accumulated throughout my body. Though I must say, it’s such a perilous method that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.”
Had other options existed, I would have chosen differently.
Because.
If one fails to cultivate other aspects proportionally to match a grown body, the consequences far exceed mere Demonic Deviation.
This was why I had to accelerate the second stage of the Heavenly Mortal Shed-Skin Technique with proper conditions.
Moreover, considering Seol Ha’s age and her existing aptitude, attempting the Heavenly Mortal Shed-Skin Technique would prove disadvantageous to her.
Of course, there was no need for lengthy explanations.
“It’s unbearably painful.”
This was sufficient for Seol Ha.
“Yes, I don’t like pain either.”
Seol Ha smiled softly.
“So you can smile.”
I regarded her flushed cheeks for a moment, then stroked my chin.
“Time is short, so forgive me for taking a liberty.”
“Pardon?”
Instead of answering, I tore away part of Seol Ha’s martial robes at the shoulder.
Pale jade skin was laid bare.
“If the clothes looked too intact, someone would get suspicious.”
But perhaps the person mattered more than the garments.
Even the torn martial robes seemed to her like resplendent ceremonial dress.
Beautiful, uselessly so.
At the same moment, crowds began pressing in from a distance.
It was the first day living as the second son, Geon A Sung.
*
*
*
“So in a fit of rage, you burned down that wretch’s quarters along with him?”
The woman seated upon the golden throne, receiving a manicure from her attendants, looked down at me with cold eyes.
One of the masters of the Golden Estate.
The Grand Lady, Maeng A Wol.
One of the blood enemies who had devoured my life.
When I was young, merely stepping into this chamber would bring chills crawling down my spine, but now all the glittering things within these walls entrance me.
If I can seize all of this in my hands, the days ahead will grow far more fascinating and accelerated—
A golden censer.
Elaborate silk curtains woven from white silver threads.
Cloud and dragon motifs in pure gold overlaying the walls.
Adding to this the throne adorned with jade, gold, and crimson jewels, the chamber could scarcely be called anything but a sea of gold.
“I told you not to act recklessly. Yet here you are, causing trouble regardless.”
“It’s just… circumstances unfolded that way…….”
Stammering before the Grand Lady was a specialty of the second son, Geon A Sung.
The Grand Lady harbored no great suspicion of me.
Rather, she was indifferent.
My nearly flawless work with the Human Skin Face Creation had begun to feel embarrassed by that very indifference.
A long silence stretched between us.
Just as I wondered what might be crossing her mind.
The Grand Lady parted her crimson-painted lips.
“For that, I’ll have to kill you. That way, no awkward talk will arise.”
This was unexpected.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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